450 6.8

It was the start of the 15th turn.

The four classes were finally almost side-by-side. Ichinose's class was in first place with 42 points. Horikita and Sakayanagi's classes were tied for second place with 40 points each. In third place was Ryūen's class with 39 points.

Their lead from the first half of the battle was exhausted. They had yet to be left behind, but if things continued this way, they would surely be dragged down.

At the start, Ryūen's class had allowed them to suppress their fears, but ominous clouds were gathering.

They were pushed back to a place where there was a very real possibility they could end up in last.

"It's a lie, right? Spare me!"

"I absolutely hate the idea of being expelled!"

"I feel the same way!"

Since the first half of the battle, the number of eliminations had increased to four, causing the students to start panicking.

At this point, there was no way the rest could concentrate on studying.

Horikita stood up from her pulled-out chair. It was time to start the nomination, but she calmly made her way past the panicking students.

"Don't panic."

Horikita, now standing on the lectern, spoke to her classmates.

"Admittedly, the situation is close to dire. Our class has four eliminations at this point. Ichinose-san has taken the lead, and Ryūen-kun's class, which was in last place, is catching up at an absurd pace with continuous perfect scores. We've reached a point where I can't guarantee that we'll definitely win."

If they could see through Ryūen's strategy and reliably prevent perfect scores from then on, it would be different, but they couldn't expect that. Neither could they interfere with Ichinose's protection nominations, which succeeded at a high rate.

(Illustration)

"All we can do is fight together until the end."

Horikita couldn't guarantee victory at this point.

But, as this was a competitive exam, the leader had to offer assurance, even if there was none to be given.

Being overly timid or overly optimistic would be pointless.

Only the truth behind her words would resonate with her classmates.

Horikita believed they could prevail. That belief would reach the students.

Even Yōsuke, who was usually the one to follow up, was just listening to Horikita's words this time.

"Believe in me."

They would press on, driven by this spirit. Of course, there were no other available options.

But looking at Horikita, there seemed to be more than that.

15th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.

Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:

'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Satō Maya,' and 'Miyake Akito'

Horikita successfully protected three of her classmates.

Moreover, they scored perfectly as the remaining two answered the question correctly.

It was a comeback of five points. However, the relentless nominations didn't stop.

"Wh-what is this?!"

Kei, more overwhelmed with fear than joy, averted her eyes from the screen.

Not only the classmates who were only vaguely aware of the situation, but even ones who were completely oblivious, began feeling uneasy about their opponent obsessively singling her out.

Horikita, who had successfully defended her classmates, didn't seem to be one of them.

16th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.

Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:

'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Nishimura Ryūko'

This time, there were two. But again, Kei's name was there.

"Stop it… What is this…?"

Ichinose continued to target and endlessly attack Karuizawa.

It wasn't strange to infer that if a specific student was being targeted, the intent was to intentionally eliminate and expel that student. This image-destroying behavior continued without end.

17th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.

Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:

'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Hirata Yōsuke'

Still, it didn't stop.

It didn't stop.

It didn't stop, no matter how many times it was thwarted.

The nominations didn't stop.

"Why are you only targeting me… That's not fair…"

18th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.

Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:

'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Hasebe Haruka,' 'Onodera Kayano'

19th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.

Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:

'Karuizawa Kei'

20th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.

Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:

'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Sudō Ken'

There was a total of 10 turns in the second half.

From start to finish, Ichinose never removed Kei as a target.